MacBook Pro 16'' popping sound

Macbook Pro 16" 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 5500M 32GB

Be warned, 10.15.7 introduces a popping sound after playing audio for a variable amount of time.

I had the YouTube audio popping early on when I purchased this device late 2019. That issue was resolved months ago for me, so I'm a bit disappointed with this new sound issue.

Force quitting coreaudioid stops the popping.

Same issue here. I am on 10.15.7 and the crackling and popping annoying sounds started happen with that update, for what I have noticed. How come an entire community of users of this very expensive machine report this error and Apple is not putting the right emergency time to fix it right away? It is very uncomfortable to make web meetings listening this audio crackling , even when watching videos on youtube, on both Firefox and Chrome web browsers. Apple, please fix this issue ASAP!

I have the same issue on my 2020 MacBook Pro 13', I think its definitely unacceptable for the price we paid for these machines, expecting the best, but getting a faulty device. And its thousands of people too- definitely not the quality I was expecting. Im disappointed in my purchase and am looking into returns, and going to get a different device.

I want to add to this thread. I bought the Macbook Pro 16'' to be a working video editing machine with Premiere Pro. Not only is there playback lag, but sometimes the machine will stutter on a few frames continuously and won't stop unless I click into another application .

The sound crackling is becoming more and more persistent. When fast forwarding in Premiere Pro, the speakers will pop rhythmically, even for nature sound files in playback.

The kill audio core trick you find online is no way a probable fix because the issue always happens when editing in Premiere.

I've sent it to an Apple store and they've said it is not a hardware issue. And if then it is a software issue, how has it not been corrected yet??? This is too much of a damper for the price we pay for this machine! I'm bringing my machine to another repair shop tomorrow and seeing if they can open the thing up and just fix it

Since I bought the mac until 10.15.7 I have been experiencing the issue. I tried with the assistance to perform the SMC but nothing changed actually. They just want to send to them. Unfortunately I payed all this money for the laptop and I cannot stay two weeks without computer and I am not even able to consistently reproduce the problem. If you look for crackling, frying ,farting speaker noise, it is full of people complaining on reddit, macrumors, youtube and apple forum as well. They just do not care at all, recognized or addressed the problem so far. And I am not even talking about the heat dissipation trouble which makes it so loud and hot even at low load of cpu.

I can give more color too re: the hardware vs. software.

In bootcamp, this audio crackling issue also exists. If it *isn't* hardware, then the same bug exists in the driver (software) for both Bootcamp Windows and macOS.

Using Terminal, search for coreaudiod, then select it within the list view. Press the Stop button (Circle with an X).

A dropdown will appear with th option to Quit, Force Quit or Cancel. Force Quit.

There are better ways to exit and relaunch coreaudiod.

I have not encountered the issue in a few weeks. Good luck

One note about Force Quitting coreaudiod, any sound currently playing may remain active if you attempt to control the current sound. I had to quit the Podcast app when this occurred.

it’s likely best to stop all playbacks before quitting coreaudiod.

My last instance occurred while listening to a pod and the iPhone Simulator launched. The second the sim appeared, my audio became distorted with popping.

I’m beginning to think this distortion is related to a process currently using the GPU, which Photoshop CC 21 was at the time of my occurrences. I normally leave PS open in a difference Space.

After a long wait to see if a software fix would resolve this; I finally called into Apple Support near the end of October. They went through the usual scripts and then agreed it must be a hardware issue. They arranged a collection and box, and it was sent off on the 28th October 2020.

I got it back on 2nd November 2020 all fixed. They replaced the I/O board and Top Case/Battery combo. Brand new speakers I guess as part of that assembly. It's sounding fantastic! no pops or distortion whatsoever.

Took me a while to restore it from my Time Machine, and I am happy to report that everything is perfect now.

So thats my very positive resolution to this irritating problem.

(I am in the UK).

This looks like good news, for the first time after one year, for what I've been reading. Did you try to use Logic, Final Cut etc at a sample rate of 44.100kHz ? Thanks for your feedback on the issue.

I often get this issue while compiling in Xcode. I think it is just due to resource exhaustion or heat causing a driver/hardware bug.

Anyway if you open Terminal, paste:

sudo killall -9 coreaudiod

This will kill the core audio daemon and it will quickly restart without the popping sounds (at least for a little bit)

For bonus points, you could also put this in a `restart-CA.sh` or whatever script, `sudo chmod +x` it, and then make a shortcut to it or open it using spotlight whenever you need it.

I have exactly the same problem and Apple are unwilling to fix it, I get loud audible popping when playing practically any audio - from system sounds to Bootcamp and even whilst trying to skim through a YouTube video or do any work in Final Cut Pro it's a constant snap crackle and pop from the speakers.

I sent my laptop away for repair, they reproduced the issue and replaced the Audio Board which didn't fix the issue.

I sent it away for repair a second time, they couldn't reproduce the issue (despite it being the same thing) and sent it back without repairing it.

I took my laptop for a Genius appointment and reproduced it for the Genius who immediately noted that it was an issue, was unacceptable and took it in to be repaired and the top case was replaced.

Eventually when I picked it up I tested it, the issue *still* persisted and I was told to speak with a Mac technician, he insisted that the speakers were meant to make a popping noise and once I escalated it to the Lead Genius he too said that although they could clearly hear the popping/cracking noise from the speakers they were refusing to do any further work on the device as they believe it was within specifications unless Apple initiated a Service Program for the issue.

I am extremely unhappy with the support I received and I now have a specced out 16" MacBook Pro that I actively avoid using because it just irritates me so much, such a massive downgrade from my MacBook Pro 15" which I thoroughly enjoyed using when possible.

Lucky you, I went through a similar process with my Audio Board being replaced when I shipped it off and my top case assembly being replaced at an Apple Store but the issue still persists no differently from before and they are now refusing to do any further work on it as they believe that it's normal behaviour.

It's midi and audio settings. I did change the mic too but I think that's not necessary.

I can't explain why it works.I read it somewhere in the net. Just try it out. If you have audio software you have to change the settings there too sometimes.

Unfortunately for me it occurs whether it's 44.1kHz or 48kHz.

I usually get a small pop then a big pop when playing audio, the 48kHz makes the small initial pop a little quieter but the loud pop still occurs no differently.

It's 100% not malware either as I'm able to reproduce this on a complete clean install of Catalina (and now Big Sur) with zero third-party applications installed.

It's also not a macOS problem as the same issue occurs with Windows 10 via Bootcamp.